Volunteer - Patient Leader

Job description

Job responsibilities

Activities Patient Leaders may be asked to participate in:

Quality improvement projects

Steering/Working groups

Ward Accreditation and Peer Reviews

Task and Finish Groups

Interviews (including interviewing consultants and senior nurses)

Policy and document reviews

Patient surveys

Clinical leadership development programmes

Strategy reviews

Regular meetings, including:

Governance and Care Group meetings

Patient Safety Partners

Transformation projects

Digital Improvements

Projects may arise when a department has identified a potential improvement they could make, and they want your input as a Patient Leader to provide constructive feedback or balanced debate on how to move that idea forward. Alternatively you may have identified (or someone may have let you know about) an idea for improvement, which you can bring to us so we can help you explore avenues for taking it forward.

WHO CAN BECOME A PATIENT LEADER?

As a Patient Leader you should have a have a willingness to develop an understanding of NHS services; be able to think widely about health and wellbeing; be committed to improving NHS services; and able to provide and be open to constructive challenge. It may be that you have recently accessed NHS services yourself and/or have experience of caring for someone with a health condition.

You must be able and willing to reflect the different views and diversity of patients/service users, including those living with different conditions and from different backgrounds. Having an understanding of the different challenges faced by the local community who use the hospital would be considered an advantage.

You will need to be able to attend all 5 days of the Patient Leadership Programme (held on one day a week over 5 weeks). The training programme is run twice a year, in April and September. You will need to be able to commit to the role for a minimum of 2 years, after completing the Patient Leadership Programme. After this time you can opt to continue, if you would like to.

There is no set requirement for the number of hours you need to commit to on a weekly basis, but if you join a group, meeting or project youll need to be able to continue attending as a regular and sustained commitment. It might be that a department needs a Patient Leader to be on a committee for an hour a week for several weeks, or for two hours a month as an ongoing regular meeting, or a department would like help over several days with interviews for a specific role.

PLEASE NOTE: We are currently only able to recruit Patient Leaders who live within a 15 mile radius of the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, RG1 5AN.

Please see attached job description for full details.

MAKING YOUR APPLICATION

Please describe to us in your application why you are interested in becoming a Patient Leader and how you meet the listed person specification, values and behaviours. You may also wish to:

- express any additional qualities you feel you would bring to the role

- share your experiences of accessing services at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

- share your experiences of caring for someone with health conditions.

* Previous applicants need not apply*

EXISTING ROYAL BERKSHIRE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST STAFF

If you are already an employee of the RBFT you may want to become a Patient Leader when you retire or leave the Trust. You cant be a Patient Leader whilst you are also an employee of RBFT, but there are many other volunteering roles available that you can take part in whilst still employed.

As a member of staff, if you carry out voluntary services for the Trust while employed, you would be eligible to be part of the Deliver a Difference scheme. This recognises staff who go that extra mile, by volunteering as well as working for the Trust. If you are interested in Deliver a Difference, contact either the Patient Experience Team or Voluntary Services.

Email: patient.experienceteam@royalberkshire.nhs.uk

Email: voluntary.services@royalberkshire.nhs.uk

For further details / informal visits contact:

Name: Naomi Roberts

Job title: Patient Experience Lead

Email address: patient.experienceteam@royalberkshire.nhs.uk

Telephone number: 0118 322 7446

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Experience of healthcare systems as a patient or carer

Desirable

• Experience / knowledge of setting up and implementing processes and procedures

Education/Qualifications

Essential

• Good all round education

Desirable

• Evidence of recent appropriate experience eg: Customer Relations, Quality Management, Business Management, NHS or other business involvement

Skills/Knowledge & Attributes

Essential

• Interest in Healthcare and the NHS

Desirable

• Ability to think widely about health and wellbeing, as well as service delivery and improvement.

Skills/Knowledge & Attributes

Essential

• Ability to constructively challenge, and reflect on different views, including those from people with different diversities and from different backgrounds.

Desirable

• Previous experience of improvement projects or hosting/chairing meetings or groups.

Skills/Knowledge & Attributes

Essential

• Willingness to listen and question until you reach the level of information required to understand.

Desirable

• Confident in engaging with a broad range of staff, patients and service users and being open to constructive challenge.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Berkshire Hospital

Reading

RG1 5AN

Employer's website

https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)